Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) Position Trimmed by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southern Copper Co. (NYSE:SCCO) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,908 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 70,587 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern Copper were worth $42,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Southern Copper by 172.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 223 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Southern Copper by 210.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Southern Copper by 143.4% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Southern Copper during the third quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern Copper by 578.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 407 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. 7.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Copper Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SCCO opened at $93.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Southern Copper Co. has a 12-month low of $78.82 and a 12-month high of $129.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.83.

Southern Copper (NYSE:SCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). Southern Copper had a net margin of 29.53% and a return on equity of 40.27%. As a group, research analysts predict that Southern Copper Co. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Copper Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Southern Copper’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Southern Copper’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $106.30 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern Copper from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $92.50 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.81.

About Southern Copper

Southern Copper Corporation engages in mining, exploring, smelting, and refining copper and other minerals in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, and Chile. The company is involved in the mining, milling, and flotation of copper ore to produce copper and molybdenum concentrates; smelting of copper concentrates to produce blister and anode copper; refining of anode copper to produce copper cathodes; production of molybdenum concentrate and sulfuric acid; production of refined silver, gold, and other materials; and mining and processing of zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, gold, and lead.